How did Yemen’s rebels survive the Saudi-led onslaught?

Date created : 07/12/2018 – 11:06 Dubai (AFP) Yemen’s Huthi rebels sit at the negotiating table in Sweden with delegates of the internationally recognised government, undefeated on the battlefield and still firmly in control of the capital Sanaa. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners predicted a quick victory when they launched a military intervention in 2015 to restore President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after he fled into Saudi exile. But more than three and a half years later, the two sides have fought themselves into a quagmire that has set off the world’s worst humanitarian crisis prompting an outraged international community to demand peace. Here is a look at how the outgunned rebels have clung on against the military and financial might of the Saudi-led coalition: – Who are the Huthis? The Huthis come from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect of Islam and have their traditional stronghold in the mountainous north of Yemen. The movement, which takes its name from late spiritual leader Badreddin al-Huthi and his son Hussein, rose up in the 1990s over alleged sectarian discrimination. Between 2004 and 2010, the Huthis fought six wars against Yemen’s then-government and battled Saudi Arabia in 2009-2010 after storming over the border. Officially calling themselves the Ansarullah (Supporters of God), the Huthis took part in the Arab Spring protests that forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh from office in 2012. In the chaos that followed they later reconciled with Saleh and together they ousted the government of Hadi, Saleh’s longtime vice president,… [Read full story]